Bitcoin still sticks around - Times Leader #bitcoin

Bitcoin has shot up and crashed at least twice now. Exchanges where the fast-rising new digital currency trades have been hacked, and so have individual accounts. It’s been linked to illegal activity in underground cyber haunts such as Silk Road, and sparked a move by the U.S. government to halt unregulated use. And Bitcoin persists. Heck, CNBC has a Bitcoin ticker on its website. In its fourth year of circulation now, the decentralized online-only form of money has evolved from a libertarian-styled geek curiosity to a contender for becoming the first digital currency to go truly mainstream. There are now more than 11 million “coins” created worth more than $1 billion. Lumpy and volatile as it is, the math-based cash is one of the fastest-rising alternative currencies in a world filled with them. Tyler Moore, who studies alternative currencies, said he still isn’t sure why...